13 December 1988: The Brazzaville Protocol was signed by #Angola, #SouthAfrica and #Cuba agreeing on independence for #Namibia to begin 1 April 1989 and phased withdrawal of Cuban forces over 27 months

11 December 1978: ZANLA guerrillas raided the fuel depot outside Salisbury, firing rockets that set fire to fuel containers and starting a blaze that would burn for eight days and consume months of #Rhodesia valuable oil reserves

4 December 1976: President Jean-Bedel Bokassa announced that henceforth the #CentralAfricanRepublic would be known as the Central African Empire and his 'coronation' as emperor would take place in a year

3 December 1985- "The day is not far when we shall lead you to freedom": Winne Mandela spoke at at rally and vowed vengence for those killed in clashes with Police in the black township of Mamelodi outside Pretoria #SouthAfrica

2 December 1977: The @AP released @PulitzerPrizes winning photos taken by one of its photographers who accompanied a #Rhodesia army unit on a patrol who said he saw soldiers "Loot, burn down huts and beat a politician and torture his wife and daughter"

Malaria treatment wins Nobel Prize 2015

October 5, 2015

Malaria Treatment wins Nobel Prize 2015

Tu Youyou has been awarded half of the Nobel Prize in Physiology 2015 for Medicine.

The award recognises her work in discovering in a therapy for treating malaria. With her team, she looked to traditional medicine for an effective treatment as an alternative to quinine & chloroquine as these were becoming less effective at controlling the disease.

The answer was found in an extract from the wormwood plant, & resulted in the isolation of artemisinin which is still used in combination with other chemicals to treat this life threatening disease.

Tu Youyou tested the medicine on herself to ensure it was safe for humans. She is the first woman from China to have won this award, & it has been a long time coming. The discovery was made in 1972, & the drug has saved many lives, especially in Africa.